(MENAFN) As of 2019, the United States Treasury Department has sanctioned cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash for laundering over USD7 billion in virtual money. This was revealed on Monday.
The figure includes USD455 million from the Lazarus Gang, a North Korean state-sponsored cyber group that was sanctioned by the United States in 2019, which was responsible for the largest known virtual currency theft, according to a declaration from the department.
Cyber actors' cash totaling USD96 million from the Harmony Bridge Heist on June 24 and USD7.8 million from the Nomad Heist on August 2 were both laundered using Tornado Cash.
According to a statement from Brian Nelson, undersecretary of the Treasury for financial and terrorism intelligence, "despite public assurances otherwise, Tornado Cash has repeatedly failed to impose effective controls designed to stop it from laundering funds for malicious cyber actors on a regular basis and without basic measures to address its risks."
After Blender.io on May 6 for its links to North Korea, the Treasury has now sanctioned a virtual currency mixer a second time.
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